All posts tagged Piece of My Heart: The Bert Berns Story

The man who wrote the songs “Twist and Shout,” “Piece of My Heart,” and “I Want Candy” isn’t in the Songwriters Hall of Fame, or in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but he does have a new musical, a new book, and an upcoming documentary all coming out within the next year.

Bert Berns, the songwriter who penned hits out of the Brill Building has gone largely ignored since climbing the charts in the 60s. He had 51 pop chart singles in seven years, produced “Brown Eyed Girl” with Van Morrison, watched “Twist and Shout” get recorded by the Beatles and “Piece of My Heart” and “Cry Baby” would later be recorded by Janis Joplin.Read More »

About Speakeasy

Speakeasy is a blog covering media, entertainment, celebrity and the arts. The publication is produced by Barbara Chai and Jonathan Welsh with contributions from the Wall Street Journal staff and others. Write to us at speakeasy@wsj.com or follow us on Twitter at @WSJSpeakeasy or individually @barbarachai.